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PASSING JUDGEMENT

Action Figure Review
DC Direct Infinite 
Crisis Series 2 


"Set containing: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Firestorm, Donna Troy, and Wondergirl"


 

 Ah, the company wide crossover special event mini-series.  Or as DC calls it, "Crisis"  We've already gotten one series of these guys and here comes a second.  All figures are done in the same style as seen in the comic series the line is named after ... which makes sense.

PACKAGING:
This is a common theme for DC Direct (here after DCD) figure lines.  Pick a cardback and reuse it for every figure in the line.   Nothing on the card itself will be unique to any figure (except the Series 1 double sized card to accommodate Mongul) If at all possible DCD will make the base the title of the series and use that instead of reprinting on the card.  I'm fine with that as it stands out, but am still bothered that DCD figures get the same base through a line no matter the size of
said figure. The only thing to let you know the name of the figure is a sticker on the front of the "figure bubble".  Displays the figure wonderfully but the packaging itself looks cheap as always.
SCORE: 3 out of 5

EASE OF ESCAPE:
How hard do you have to work to get this figure free?  Not much.  Cardback is easy to rip off the figure bubble.  Pull away the inner
tray there are a few twist ties but nothing like I've seen on some
other toy lines.  There are 4 maybe 5 per figure just to keep them
from bouncing around.  Any accessories are taped to the inside of
the tray.  The figure foot peg for the base is as always taped to
the base itself.  I can get these guys out in under a minute, but
for collectors there is no getting them back in without major skills
at reattaching the cardback. 
SCORE: 3 out of 5

Now I will review each figure individually, first up the three of the six I didn't see fit to add to my colletion.

FIRESTORM:
If I were to be totally honest, this guy looks great.  The design is nice and the details are done well.  I was
tempted to open him just to steal that awesome flame hair base for a Starfire custom.  But when the only reason to
open a figure is for an accessory then what does that say about the figure itself?  If you are a Firestorm fan this
is a no contest add to your collection.  I could never get into him much, let alone this new guy who I honestly
gave a chance.  But since I don't care about the character I'm passing on him.  He looks like nothing more than
custom fodder waiting to happen in my eyes and $15 a pop is too much for that. 
SCORE: 3 out of 5

   WONDER GIRL
(Donna Troy)

Hey look! It's the original Wonder Girl!  Many fans will be happy to finally have this figure.  She's been around for ages and now those Wonder Woman fans can get their Donna on.  She looks good and has a kind of sexy "come over here sailor so I can punch you" look in her eyes.  She has a lasso on her belt that can't be used but is made of a shiny rope so it looks like it could be.  Her hands however look scary with thumb and fingers that seems a bit too long.  Which is odd as they don't need to hold anything or do they even move.  Again as with Firestorm She looks good, but I don't care enough about this figure to add her to my collection.  Or I should say, this figure doesn't make me care enough to bring her into the fold.

SCORE: 2 out of 5


And now the figures I felt needed to go into my collection:

 

BATTLE-DAMAGED BATMAN:
"Hey Matt, Bats is teh coolest!!!
Why would you not add him?!?!?"

Yeah save it.  Batman is cool sure.  I have a dozen different figures of him, but passing on this guy was pretty easy.  First off yeah the battle damage looks fine, but where is the blood?  I was promised bat blood in the promos.  Here is looks like Bats ticked off Alfred who in turn stopped sewing his costume rips.  How else would Bats have this much damage to his suit without any visible damage to his person?  The second major item is the way everything looks is that the figure would look good in one position only.  So he's a statue that you could move but won't.  Why put up with the joints that disrupt the sculpt if I'm going to never pose him?  He wasn't made by McFarlene was he?   Those reasons on top of my dozen other Batmen made this one a pass.
SCORE: 2 out of 5

 


DONNA TROY

"And now for something completely different"
While I wasn't jazzed about a Wonder Girl Donna this modern costume version is the one I felt my collection needed.  She is currently running around in DC's countdown series.  Though DC sure keeps wanting us to care about her character they really can't seem to make it happen.  For a while she was the new Harbringer and she even comes with the orb that she talked to in the backstories of 52.  Her face has more of a blank expression as one would look if you were sitting in space talking to a giant silver bowling ball.  Hmm, I think her and Booster Gold need to get together so her orb and Skeets can have a "play date". 

Anyway the paint apps are great, especially given the details of the starry night costume.  The silver is applied well and the hair is sculpted dynamic enough to be interesting but still allows her head to move. 
She still has the creepy hands with thumbs and fingers that seem
too long but I can put up with that so this first time ever figure
can fit into my collection.  It should also be noted that the belt is
not attached to the figure but neither can it be removed.  As such
you might need to push it further down on her hips so it will sit
right.  She stands well and holds the basic pose fine. 

SCORE: 3 out of 5

 

  WONDER WOMAN
with cape and sword

The most popular woman in comics still, Wonder Woman is shown in
this figure as she appeared in the comic.  Wearing her red, white, and blue cape and wielding an amazon sword.  This is the first Wonder Woman that doesn't seem goofy, animated, or too first appearance
for my tastes.  There is a debate among fans as to how she should
look.  Her strength is magical so she doesn't technically need to be a body builder body type.  Many artists will show her to be almost
man-ish.  This figure finds the happy middle.  She doesn't look
like a runway model scrawny stick girl ... but neither is she a
steroid she-hulk that destroys the character's sex appeal. 

The figure comes with a lasso that like Wonder Girl's is not
useable but looks like it could be.  She comes with a sword and
sheath that attach to her hip.  The sword does actually "work" in
that it can be sheathed.  Her hips look horrible without the shealth
as there is a large hole there for the sheath's peg to fit, so that's staying put.  She also comes with two sets of hands.  One set
for punching someone and another open handed for holding the sword while slapping someone .  These pop on and off easily so you can pick your favorite pose.  The cape is technically removeable which is an option as it does hinder the heads movement where her hair rubs it. 

The figure looks pretty good and is the best Wonder Woman yet (there is a future WW line that might look better) but she is not without the typical troubles of a DCD figure.  As you can tell in the photo she looks weird standing.  Her hips are a T-crotch rather than ball joints.  Sure they might look better but the lost posing really hurt the figure.  It is almost worthless for these figures to even have joints in the legs and hips.  You end up only having one option that keeps the figure standing.  There is no ankle articulation and only one foot has the peg.  The leg that doesn't have to be at the peg location can't travel far especially on a base as thin as this.  And tell me... what is the point of knee articulation with no ankle articulation?  The legs have to be straight or the feet won't be able to hold the figure.  I like the figure but I won't hesitate to do some custom mods on it so she can move her legs.  DCD has got to pick a side.  Make tiny plastic statues, or gives these guys more articulation.  Because at the price of 150 percent over that of other 6 inch action figures collectors demand more for their money. 
SCORE:  3 out of 5 

SUPERMAN 

Superman, Superman, does whatever he super can.

If you don't know by now, you will soon learn that my main man is Superman.  I shouldn't have to explain it just accept the fact that he's my fav'rite.  I was extra excited for this figure.  Promo shots showed a Superman with a good flight pose looking like he's punching the stuffing out of something.  Finally I say to myself, a Superman figure that can have a pose beyond the stand heroically pose.  Sure the Hush Superman was flying... but he was just hovering not actually flying through the sky. 

This figure looks good.  Nice shade of primary colors.  Good angry face.  Perfect cape that is thin enough to not weigh down the figure but sturdy enough to hold its shape.  Even has the yellow "S-shield" on the back that is only painted on so it looks like it does in the comics (not the raised look that other figures have sported)

The "flight rod" returns from the Hush Superman and the Infinite Crisis S1 OMAC figures.  It works well
and is set so the figure has a good center of balance and you won't concern yourself of him tipping over.
 His legs while not ball jointed can find a great flight pose.  The ankles are articulated so he won't be flying
with flat feet.  Since the legs can't do anything besides move front and back you will have to be mindful of
the flight rod.  When I was posing him  the leg pushed the rod out of the back of the figure.  If only the end of
the rod had some form of joint instead of a square peg then maybe the figure could be angled more dynamically. 

All is however not sunny in Metropolis.  I asked for a Superman that can hold a good flight pose and I got one.  But what was sacrificed was the heroic standing pose.  The problem is two fold 

First, the way he was sculpted they accurately made
his muscles flex how they would be if he was
punching someone.  This means that out of his main
pose he looks odd.  His pectorals are especially noticable.  His legs too, you can see that certain muscles in his upper legs are flexed as they are
when the leg is raised and knee is pointing out. 
So when it moves back to static it looks awkward. 

Second, the positioning of the left arm shoulder
means he can't really drop his arm.  You can see to
on the picture to the right that this is the best pose
I could pull off.  And he looks like he's trying to hold
a cell phone to his ear without using his hands.  I mean
this picture just screams, "Man I need a new pillow,
my neck is killing me."

So again like almost every DCD figure ever made.  There is a small window of poses that look good with
a figure.  Put one toe out of line and it's Awkward City.  Which begs the question... Why taunt us with joints? 
Still for finally getting a Superman
with a good action pose I am happy.

SCORE: 3 out of 5

 

SCALE with OTHERS:

One main complaint about DCD figures is that scale seem to not matter.  Sometimes even in the same series different figures will be taller than they should be.  I blame not the sculptor but the reference shots they give him.  Of the figures I freed, they seem to work scale wise.  Donna is shorter than Kyle but Diana is taller.  They don't seem out of place next to Marvel Legends figures either.  They seem properly scaled with other 1/12th (that's six inch) scaled figures.  So these won't seem odd blended with the rest of your collection.

I will say that Batman seems too big though.  He was sculpted in a hunched position and is still the height of a normal figure.   So he comes off very bulky and huge. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Well I've honestly seen better out of DC Direct.  Their quality hasn't really increased at the same rate as other companies.  Even with the blow that Marvel Legends took when Hasbro took over didn't bring them below the standards of the current DCD lines.  If the thing is an action figure I expect the poses to be picked by me... not them.  The problems these figures have make the $15 retail price to seem excessive.  I dare say that the second that Mattel gets their hands on an extended license then the DC Superheroes line will pull away almost all the DC Direct fans.  Just like Marvel Select can't seem to capture the same sales numbers as Marvel Legends. 

Overall an average line with enough unique characters to help it sell.  It was my fandom that sold me these toys, not the toys that triggered my fandom.

 

OVERALL SCORE (not average)
3 out of 5


DC Comics images copyright 2006 DC Comics or Respective Owner. Marvel images copyright 2006 Marvel Entertainment or Respective Owner.
All other images copyright 2006 Respective Owners.